1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to telecommunications and, in particular, to voice identification. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to identifying a call placed or received on behalf of another.
2. Description of the Related Art
Telephone service has created communication channels worldwide, and those channels continue to expand with the advent of cellular and other wireless services. A person can simply take a telephone off-hook and dial a destination number or press a send button and be connected to a telephone line around the world.
Today, the public switching telephone network (PSTN), wireless networks, and private networks telephone services are based on the identification of the wireless telephone or wireline that a calling party uses. A service, often referred to as Acaller ID@, provides the party receiving a call with the line number and name of the subscriber of the line number placing the call.
One limitation of caller ID is that the identity of the party actually making the call is not received, just the name of the line subscriber. For example, in a private network, if AJoe Smiths is making a call from ATom Arnold's office line@ only the extension for ATom Arnold's office line@ and an identifier for ATom Arnold@ are transferred to the called party.
Another limitation of caller ID is that the identity of the party answering the call is not returned to the party making the call. For example, in a PSTN, a single line number may be answered by multiple parties, and at multiple telephone devices.
A further limitation of caller ID is that a line number and line subscriber name provide a limited context for a call. For example, in a wireless network, where ATom Jenkins@ calls a friend's wireless number, ATom Jenkins@ does not receive any information about whether the call is wireless, how the call is being billed, and whether the wireless number is a business or personal number.
Moreover, a limitation of caller ID is that one person may make a call on behalf of another person, but because the party receiving the call does not recognize the caller ID, the party receiving the call decide not to answer. For example, if Bob's secretary calls Bob's client from her wireless telephone, Bob's client may not recognize the caller ID and will route the call to voice mail, rather than answering the phone to receive an urgent call placed on behalf of Bob.
Therefore, in view of the foregoing, it would be advantageous to provide a method, system, and program for providing the context of a call. In particular, it would be advantageous to indicate in the context whether a call is placed on behalf of another. In addition, it would be advantageous to indicate in the context whether a call is received on behalf of another.